Devil Rays5Mets2ST. PETERSBURG – The Mets have influenza of the bat. It is a condition that atrophies hitters’ abilities with men in scoring position and forces them to press. The only known cures are trades or free agents.

The Mets missed their chance at acquiring a vaccine when they passed on Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield in the offseason. Wait ’til next year.

The Mets hit a new low yesterday.

Their confoundingly bad offense couldn’t convert on 10 chances with runners in scoring position yesterday, and the Mets lost again to the Devil Rays, this time by a 5-2 score.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, for goodness sake -a team that entered this series on pace for 118 losses, a team without a two-game winning streak in six weeks.

A team that today will go for its first three-game win streak of the year. A team you have to beat if you want to contend, right?

“Of course,” said Met starter Al Leiter, who didn’t pitch badly, but took the loss.

“I’m sick of everybody trying to figure out what our problems are.

There are 100 games remaining in this disaster of a 2001 season, and if the Mets are going to win 90 games, they must go 64-36 (.640). Who thinks they can do that? Leiter refused to point fingers.

“If everyone took care of their own lawn, you’d have a nice neighborhood,” Leiter said after giving up four runs, one earned, in six innings.

If the offense were a lawn it would be full of weeds. It has dragged the pitching and the defense near the NL East cellar.

Yesterday, Tanyon Sturtze was the fella the Mets turned into Cy Young.

Sturtze – who came in with a 2-5 record and a 5.43 ERA – threw seven innings and gave up eight hits, but only solo homers to Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura mattered.

“It’s contagious when you’re doing well and when you’re not doing well,” batting coach Dave Engle said of his guys not coming through when presented with a chance.

Along with the national anthem, it is now also a requisite the Mets must begin each game with two men on in the first inning, but not score.

Yesterday, the Mets put two men on only to see Ventura fly out and Todd Zeile ground out. The Mets have scored just 12 runs in 62 first innings.

“The type of individuals we have on this team guys are tying too hard to be the guy to get us out of this,” said Engle, whose guys statistically are doing better with runners in scoring position than last year (.256 to .243). “It’s just been very frustrating.”

In the third, Piazza smacked his opposite-field, solo homer to tie the game. Next, Ventura doubled and Zeile tried to bring him home by singling. This was the only hit the Mets had with a runner in scoring position.

But ex-Yankee Gerald Williams zinged a throw to the plate and a feet-first-sliding Ventura was called out. So the only hit they had with a man in scoring position resulted in an out at the plate.

In the bottom of the third, Leiter gave up a broken-bat double to left to the No. 9 hitter, Damian Rolls, then the Mets showed why only a minuscule of hope remains.

Even when the Mets seemingly make a good, smart play, it explodes in disaster. Randy Winn knocked a grounder right at Rey Ordonez.

Correctly, Ordonez noticed he had Rolls at third.

From his knees, Ordonez, hurriedly, threw horribly over Ventura’s head.

The trouble multiplied from there.

Winn stole third and Greg Vaughn brought him in with a sacrifice fly and then Fred McGriff launched a homer to make it 4-1.

In the fifth and seventh, the Mets wasted rare hits from Ordonez. Ordonez led off both inning with singles, but even though the top of the order followed the Mets couldn’t score.

Met GM Steve Phillips shouldn’t even look on the market for a cure. It’s time to think about next season.